5HJXODWRU\ 5HIRUP LQ +XQJDU\ 5HJXODWRU\ 5HIRUP LQ WKH (OHFWULFLW\ 6HFWRU ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT Pursuant to Article 1 of the Convention signed in Paris on 14th December 1960, and which came into force on 30th September 1961, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shall promote policies designed: to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in Member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the world economy; to contribute to sound economic expansion in Member as well as non-member countries in the process of economic development; and to contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, non-discriminatory basis in accordance with international obligations. The original Member countries of the OECD are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The following countries became Members subsequently through accession at the dates indicated hereafter: Japan (28th April 1964), Finland (28th January 1969), Australia (7th June 1971), New Zealand (29th May 1973), Mexico (18th May 1994), the Czech Republic (21st December 1995), Hungary (7th May 1996), Poland (22nd November 1996), Korea (12th December 1996) and the Slovak Republic (14th December 2000). The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the OECD (Article 13 of the OECD Convention). Publié en français sous le titre : LA RÉFORME DE LA RÉGLEMENTATION DANS LE SECTEUR DE L'ÉLECTRICITÉ © OECD 2000. Permission to reproduce a portion of this work for non-commercial purposes or classroom use should be obtained through the Centre français d’exploitation du droit de copie (CFC), 20, rue des Grands-Augustins, 75006 Paris, France, tel. (33-1) 44 07 47 70, fax (33-1) 46 34 67 19, for every country except the United States. In the United States permission should be obtained through the Copyright Clearance Center, Customer Service, (508)750-8400, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 USA, or CCC Online: www.copyright.com. All other applications for permission to reproduce or translate all or part of this book should be made to OECD Publications, 2, rue André-Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France. © OECD (2000). All rights reserved. 2 FOREWORD Regulatory reform has emerged as an important policy area in OECD and non-OECD countries. For regulatory reforms to be beneficial, the regulatory regimes need to be transparent, coherent, and comprehensive, spanning from establishing the appropriate institutional framework to liberalising network industries, advocating and enforcing competition policy and law and opening external and internal markets to trade and investment. This report on Regulatory Reform in the Electricity Sector analyses the institutional set-up and use of policy instruments in Hungary. It also includes the country-specific policy recommendations developed by the OECD during the review process. The report was prepared for The OECD Review of Regulatory Reform in Hungary published in 2000. The Review is one of a series of country reports carried out under the OECD’s Regulatory Reform Programme, in response to the 1997 mandate by OECD Ministers. Since then, the OECD has assessed regulatory policies in 16 member countries as part of its Regulatory Reform programme. The Programme aims at assisting governments to improve regulatory quality — that is, to reform regulations to foster competition, innovation, economic growth and important social objectives. It assesses country’s progresses relative to the principles endorsed by member countries in the 1997 OECD Report on Regulatory Reform. The country reviews follow a multi-disciplinary approach and focus on the government's capacity to manage regulatory reform, on competition policy and enforcement, on market openness, specific sectors such as electricity and telecommunications, and on the domestic macroeconomic context. This report was principally prepared by Gudrun Lammers of the International Energy Agency. It benefited from extensive comments provided by colleagues throughout the OECD Secretariat, as well as close consultations with a wide range of government officials, parliamentarians, business and trade union representatives, consumer groups, and academic experts in Hungary. The report was peer-reviewed by the 30 member countries of the OECD. It is published under the authority of the OECD Secretary-General. © OECD (2000). All rights reserved. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 6 1.1. Historical overview..................................................................................................................... 6 1.2. Generation .................................................................................................................................. 8 1.3. Future investment needs ........................................................................................................... 12 1.4. Transmission, interconnection and international trade............................................................ 13 1.5. Distribution and supply............................................................................................................. 16 2. REGULATORY REFORM IN THE HUNGARIAN ELECTRICITY SUPPLY INDUSTRY ........ 18 2.1. The current functional model of the Hungarian power industry: the IPP approach ................. 18 2.2. The future functional model of the ESI: competition? ............................................................. 38 3. EVALUATION ................................................................................................................................. 45 3.1. Restructuring and privatisation................................................................................................. 45 3.2. Regulation................................................................................................................................. 47 3.3. Effects of regulatory reform to date.......................................................................................... 50 3.4. The introduction of competition ............................................................................................... 51 3.5. Comparative assessment of Hungary’s regulatory reforms...................................................... 57 Independent? ......................................................................................................................................... 58 4. CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................. 59 5. RECOMMENDATIONS................................................................................................................... 61 NOTES...................................................................................................................................................... 63 Tables 1. The eight largest power generating companies in Hungary 2. Size distribution of generating units in Hungary 3. Capacity and load in the Hungarian electricity supply industry 4. Hungary’s regional distribution and supply companies 5a. Ownership and market share in electricity generation 5b. Ownership and market share in electricity supply 6. Ownership in the Hungarian electricity supply industry 6a. Historical development of ownership in the Hungarian power industry 7. Total average price changes for electricity, 1995 to 1999 8. Aggregate consumer satisfaction indices for Hungary’s electricity supply 9. European electricity market reform © OECD (2000). All rights reserved. 4 Figures 1. Average thermal efficiency in Hungary’s power system 2. Electricity demand by consuming sector 3. Electricity generation by fuel 4. The Hungarian transmission network and main power plants 5. Hungary’s international interconnections 6. Hungary’s transboundary electricity trade 7. Sectoral shares of electricity consumption in the supply regions 8. Electricity consumption per inhabitant in the supply regions 9. Functional model of the Hungarian electricity supply industry 10. Establishment procedure for new generating capacity 11. Pricing mechanism for electricity and heat prices 12. End user prices for electricity © OECD (2000). All rights reserved. 5 1. INTRODUCTION Following the collapse of the former Soviet Union (FSU) and Hungary’s economic ties with the countries of the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) in 1989 to 1991, the country underwent a difficult period of transition from the former state-controlled economy to a market economy, during which industrial output and GDP dropped sharply and unemployment and inflation surged. Since 1996, the country has increasingly reached macro-economic stability, although the complete transformation and modernisation of its infrastructure will take significantly more time. The striving for regulatory reform and the results that were obtained must be seen against this backdrop. Although the centrally-planned economy has led to inefficient resource allocation, which has left numerous traces throughout the economy, one of the most important features that the country has had to struggle with in its transition was distorted, below-cost prices. The Hungarian